Rule. Rule. ri\_ules 'lfor awidi11,g the Greater Jill i11 cafe of error. §•. 46· Rule 2· Iu ctJ{e the tbing be r~a1Iy. u~lawful, and 1 think.. it ~o be la_wful, but witb fome doubt m~ ; lmt am clear tbut tbc farftarmg Jl u no fin; there the fin u only m the daing it; be~ caufc all is deu and lafe on the other fide. §~ 47• Rule 3. There are ma1ry fins which are aUwaies and to all perfom in aUcafes finJ, and not do 11 btcd of by tnry without grofJ unfaith[ullntfi or neJ!.ligence : and here there if no room for any d ·ubting whe~ :her we nwjf do that Good whic/1 cannot be done without that fin ; it being certain tbat ,to Juch Good can be • duty. As to commit Idolatry ; to blafpheam God , to deny Chrifl, to deny the Scriptures, to hare, or reproach, or oppofe a holy life, to be perjured, to approve or jufiitie the fin of orhers, &c. It can be no duty. which cannot. be done without the will£ul yielding to or committing thefe or any known fin. 9· 48. Rule 4· 'there are fome Dutiu [o J{rtat, and clear, and conftam to aV, that none but a projli11ate or gracrlefi C•nfcience ( or one that it fearfully .poy[oned with fin ) ca11 mal<! a doubt of it deiibe~attly: Thefc therefore come not \fithin the cafe before us. 9· 49· Rule 5· If Moral evil be cvmpared only witb Natural Gootl, or Moral Gootl with Natu"l Evil, there is no doubt to be made of the cafe: the leaft fin having more evil in it than the Profpe. tity or Livu of miUious of mm have G9od ( ctmjidered in 'hemfelvu ar Z.,fatural J!.ood) : and the leajf duty to God haviltg mqre good in it, tbo~Jt the death of miUions of men (M fucb) bath evil: For the Good of dttty and the evil of fin are greatned by their refpell: to God, and the other lejfenedas being Good or Evil only unto men, and with refpcd to them. §· 50· Rule 6. TYIJere 1 am in an equal degrte zmcertain, of abt Dury t!J be omitted, and of tbt– fin to be committed, it is a Greater fin to ventJtre doztbtfuUy upo1Z the committing of a pofitive fin that is Gn~at ( in cafe it prove a fin), than upon the. omitting a duly rvhich ( i1t. cafe it ptovt 1 duty ) is leji; And oJt the cmtrary it is wor[t to venture on the omitti1zg of a Great duty, than on the committing of a frnaU pofitive (tn. As fuppofe my own or my neighbours houfe be on fire, and l am in doubt whether I may take another mans water to quench it againfi his will. Or if my own, or my childs, or neighbours life be in danger by famine, and I doubt whe<her I may take another mans apples, or pears, or ears of corn, or his bread, againfi his will to fave my O.lf'ln life or anothers. Really the thing is aUready made Lawful or V>Ziawful (which I now determine not) by the Law of God : But in my unavoidable uncertainty ( if I be cqoally doubtful on both tides ) jt is a far greater fin ( if it prove a fin) to omit the faving of the Hotifi or Life, than . to take another mans Wlltcr, or fruit, or bread that bath plenty (if this prove the fin ) : So if King and Nobles were in a !hip which would be taken and a!\ dcflroycd by Pirates, unle!S I told a he, and faid, They are other t>erfons : If I were equaUy in doubt which courfe to take, to lie or not, ( though fin have more evil than aU our Liv~s have good ) yet a {111[ul omitting to fave all their lives is a greotcr (tn, than a fi4ul tcUing of fuch a lie. Suppof~ I am in doubt whether I may lawfully rave an Ox, or AJfc, or a Mans life, by labour on tbe Sahbarh day? Or D•vi4 had doubted whether he might eat the confecrated !hew-bread in his neccffity' It's clear that the finf#l negleGi of a mans life is worfe than the finful violation of a Sabbath, or the finful ufe of the confecrated bread. If l equally doubt whether I may u[e a ceremony or diforderly defeCtive form of prayer, and whether I 010uld prtach the Gofp<l to rave mens fouls, where there are not others enough to do it ; ;t's clear that finfully to ufc a ceremony. or diforderly form Qf prayer is ( uteris paribm) a lt/[er fin, than fittfNVy to neglell: to preach the Gofpcl and to fave mens fouls. On the other fide, fuppofe I dwtlt in It.ly, and could not have leave to preach the Go{pd there, unlcfs I would fubfcribe tO the Trent confeffion , or the canon third qf Cencil. Lateran. Sub Innocent 3. On~ of which rcquireth men to fwcar for Tranfubftantiation , and to inter· pre-t th~ Scriptures only according to the unanimous confent of the Fathers (who never una:– nimoutly confented in any expofition of the greatefl part of the Scriptures at all ) : The other decreeth the Popes dcpo!ing Temporal Lords , and difobliging their fubjell:s from their allegi· ancc : On one fide I doubt whether by fubrcribing I become not guilty of juftifying Idolatry , Perjury and Rebellion , and making my felf guilty of the perjury of many thoufand otherS : On the · other fide I doubt whether I may difobey my Superiors who command me this [ubfcription, and may forbear preaching the Gofpel ; when yet I apprehend that there are others to preach it , and that my worth is not fo conr><lerable as that there fhould be any great lo[s in putting me out and putting in another, and God nec:deth not me to do him ~ervice, but hath _inftruments. at command, and that I know not how foon he may refiore my hberty, or that I ·may ferve lmn in another Country , or e!fe in fulferings at home, in fuch a ·cafe the fill[ul juflifying of Pet– jury or Rebe/!Wn in whole Countries is a far greater fin, than the finful omif!ion of my preaching: For he that juflifieth Perjury deflroyeth the bonds of all focieties, and. turneth loore the fubjeas againfl their Soveraigns. Or if I being a Minifler were forbidden to preach the Gofpel where there is neccffity , unlefs I will commit fome fin ; if l doubt on one fide whethet I fhould difobey my Superiors, and on the other whether I {hould forbear my calling, and neg!ell: the fouls of finners ; it is a lefl'er fin ( c,.ttris paribU< ) to difobey a man finfully , than to difobry God and to be cruel to the fouls of men to their perditioR finfuVy. Ot if I have made a vow and fworn that I will call away a penny or a £hilling, and I am in doubt on one fide whether I be not bound to keep it as a Vow, and on the other whether it be not a fin tO keep n, be– caufe to ea{\ away any of my talents is a fin, in this cafe, the finful cafling away of a penny or a Olllling , is not fo great a fin, as finful Perj.ury. If Daniel and the three witnetfes had been in equal doubt whether they lbould obey the King, or Pray to God ( as Daniel 6.) and · renounce
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